I don't know how I'd never heard of the book before, but for whatever reason, I hadn't until that day.
Of course, I read it.
In doing so I discovered something about myself, and about "Joe." Yes...sorry folks, but this is yet another post about "Joe." What can I say? I love the dude.
Anywhoo...
As I read the book it was extremely easy for me to identify my primary and secondary love languages...quality time and physical touch.
Even more interesting was identifying "Joe's" primary love language, and realizing that the other 4 all pretty much tie for secondary. His primary language is acts of service.
The funny part is that he's never said this out loud, but in watching what he does and listening to the comments he makes, I have discovered what things please him.
He LOVES a clean house and food in the fridge. SIMPLE.
He never comments on anything else but those two things...and they are the two things that I don't have.
Although my place is not "Hoardsville" (he would beg to differ though), it's not Good Housekeeping tidy either.
He actually called me a hoarder recently and I quickly corrected him. I told him that in hoarder homes, there is barely space to walk through halls in order to get from one room to the next. My home has PLENTY of walking space. He wasn't convinced though. He still called me a hoarder. His reasoning is because I have piles of things in various corners. No...they're not knee-high STACKS, or anything taller than that. They are simply old papers that I need to go through before throwing them out...or better yet...before I shred them.
His response to that was, "Just throw the stuff away. What are you worried about?"
My response, "Identity theft."
His response, "Nobody wants your identity. Throw that stuff away."
One day, he actually threatened to throw it away and I think I felt my heart race. The thought of it caused me a bit of anxiety. It's not that I mind parting with the stuff, because I don't. I just it discarded of safely and securely.
More recently he said that he was gonna take pics and post them on Facebook.
To that I replied, "Fine. Wouldn't matter to me since we're not friends on Facebook, so no one will know who I am."
That silenced him.
But tonight...I sat down next to one of the piles and went through it. Shredding what needed to be securely discarded and tossing what could simply be tossed. That's ONE pile down and about ten more to go.
I gotta admit, that one little corner does look a LOT a better.
My goal is to do a pile a day and surprise him with my tidiness the next time he comes over. I can already see the big beautiful smile that'll spread across his face when he sees it. Heck...he might just ask me to marry him after that!
As for food in the fridge...sometimes we have it, other times we don't. If you catch me between the 15th and 22nd of each month, there's a good chance of finding some pretty delectable dishes around here. Between the 1st and the 15th though...you can hang it up. During that time it's "whatever is in the cupboard," and that's pretty slim pickins.
When it comes to "Joe" though, I think that old adage about, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach," rings pretty true for him. I'd better get cookin'!
Ok...gotta get back to those piles now, but in the meantime...
Let the DIALOGUE begin: How do YOU define hoarding?
Talk to me!
Til next time...
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